


Oh Churchbells How They Ring For Me..

by galaxyhawk



Series: Divine Virtue [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Beforus Ancestors, Beforus Culling (Homestuck), M/M, just a small glimpse of my headcanon for beforus eridan, not very good
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-06-22
Packaged: 2019-05-26 18:03:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15006356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/galaxyhawk/pseuds/galaxyhawk
Summary: The trolls of Beforus's many reformation sanctums know that their Empress loves them all.....even if they are a freak of nature.





	Oh Churchbells How They Ring For Me..

“Now children, repeat it again please!” The voice of the instructerror rang through the marble arches of the sanctum, making the small group of wrigglers before him to jump to attention and act as if they weren’t yawning a few moments ago.

 

“The Empress is great. The Empress is good.” The children repeated in monotone, their boredom seeming to seep out and condense in the early morning air. “The Empress protects us, the Empress loves us.”

 

All except for one boy, of a high blood hue with wavy horns and a violet streak in his hair, who said the phrase with a tone of love and devotion, as if he believed the all mighty Empress herself was listening in on the small unimportant church tucked away in the maze that was the Capital. He was clutching at the small necklace each children had been given on their first day of service tightly, to the point where his his knuckles were turning white from the pressure.

 

“Why do we have to say this crap?” whispered one girl to her friend, her lip curling into a sneer. “What has the Empress even done for this empire except sit on her throne and coddle all the weaklings?”

 

“I know right?” the other child replied with a giggle “Her last speech was comparing the culled to _cuttlefish!”_ Peals of laughter fell out of the two girls and into the ears of the small troll boy in front of them, one of the so called _culled._

 

He was a small thing, with a sickly pale gray pallor to his skin, small horns and wild black curls that never seemed to stay still and a permanent glare that could curdle milk. The robes he wore, so unlike the fine jewel tones etched in gold or silver, were instead a plain black with a small shawl of gray fabric sewed into the shoulders to act as a hood.

 

The laughter made his gray skin flush red hot and he quickly placed his hood over his head trying to drown out each petty insult that threatened to dig into his mind and make him bleed.

 

“Why does the Empress even allow Karkat to live?” she said slightly louder and it felt like a needle to the heart.

 

The cruel words slowly began to grow louder as each child abandoned their hymn to instead volley insults and slurs at Karkat, who despite his angry nature, felt so small and worthless.

 

“HEY!”

 

All eyes turned to focus on the boy before them, his dark eyes wild and his hand still clutching tightly onto his clergy necklace, stand in front of Karkat and reach out his hand.

 

Karkat looked up in surprise, but quickly took the boys hand and stood up beside him.

 

“You all should think about how you treat others before you say anything about them. After all the Empress herself said that her culled children were even more worthy than the standard troll.” he said while casting one final look over the group of squirming children before spinning away in a swirl of dark purple, Karkat by his side.

 

The two of them had walked only a little way down the hall before Karkat stopped and tugged at the other boys hand. He turned around and looked down at Karkat.

 

“Yes?”

 

“Why did you help me?” Karkat whispered, the flush in his face still strong despite the laughter having long since faded. “You’re one of the most devoted acolyte’s.”

 

The other boy looked down at him quizzically before a small smile quirked at the edge of his lips.

 

“Because the Empress’s teachings tell us to always be kind to anyone, no matter what blood color they came from, even if their a mutant.”

 

Karkat felt a small drop of disappointment at the other’s boys words and felt himself shrink down into his robes once more.

 

“Oh yeah I see that-”

 

“And, wwell….” The other boy’s face flushed a soft violet as he rubbed the back of his neck with his free hand. “I like you I guess.”

 

Karkat froze at that statement, and felt heat once again spread across the bridge of his nose and all the way to the tips of his ears.

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yeah, I’m not very good at this.”

 

“No no!” Karkat said, reaching out to catch the boy’s hand once more. “It’s fine!”

 

The other boy looked down at their clasped hands and the small smile on his face widened.

 

“I’m Eridan.” He said and Karkat felt himself smile.

 

“Nice to meet you Eridan.”

 

The two walked the rest of the way down the hall, the warm glow of the torchlight illuminating their laughter.


End file.
